Daily Archives: November 30, 2009

The FIA has published the entry list for the 2010 world championship, with 12 teams instead of the expected 13. This is because of the departure of Toyota, and an announcement regarding their entry will be provided in due course.

Also, Manor are officialy entered as Virgin, even though an announcement has not yet been made regarding their main sponsor. Reb Bull have kept their Renault engines also.

The full entry list of constructors and drivers as published by the FIA is as follows:

McLaren Mercedes
1 Jenson Button (GB)
2 Lewis Hamilton (GB)

Brawn Mercedes Benz*
3 Nico Rosberg (D)
4 TBA

Red Bull Racing Renault
5 Sebastian Vettel (D)
6 Mark Webber (AUS)

Ferrari
7 Felipe Massa (BR)
8 Fernando Alonso (E)

Williams Cosworth
9 Rubens Barrichello (BR)
10 Nico Hulkenberg (D)

Renault
11 Robert Kubica (PL)
12 TBA

Force India Mercedes
14 Adrian Sutil (D)
15 Vitantonio Liuzzi (I)

STR Ferrari
16 Sebastien Buemi (CH)
17 TBA

Lotus Cosworth
18 TBA
19 TBA

Campos Dallara
20 TBA
21 Bruno Senna (BR)

US F1 Cosworth
22 TBA
23 TBA

Virgin Cosworth
24 Timo Glock (D)
25 TBA

NB: Statement by FIA- Toyota Motorsport GmbH remains formally bound by the Concorde Agreement to put forward a team for participation, though it has indicated that it will not be in a position to do so. An announcement will be made regarding this entry in due course.

Oliver Turvey will make his Formula 1 testing debut with McLaren, in Jerez in Spain this week.

Turvey has been handed the testing role as part of his prize for winning the 2006 McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award. He says that he cannot wait to get out on track:

“I’ve gone over this moment so many times in my mind, so it’s very exciting to be getting this opportunity to test with the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team at Jerez this week. My aim is to enjoy the experience, but also to learn as much as I can from it. If possible, I’d also like to be able to help the team with their preparations for the 2010 season.”

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said: “We’re extremely proud of our commitment to young talent and the efforts we’ve made to ensure the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winners are given the experience of a lifetime when they test with us. A drive in a race-wining Formula 1 car is every racing driver’s dream, and I’m sure Oliver will use this week’s test as the perfect opportunity to broaden his experience as he continues his successful single-seater career.”

Turvey will drive McLaren’s MP4-24 as part of the winter testing schedule, alongside Gary Paffett.

On Friday, it was announced that Peter Sauber was to buy his F1 team back off BMW. Following their departure, Sauber is now back in control, to many peoples’ surprise. Here, in an interview with formula1.com, he talks about the new Ferrari powered C29:

Q: Peter, what does the agreement with BMW really mean? Is it true to say that both parties wouldn’t have reached an agreement if there hadn’t been strong signals that the team had a slot on the 2010 grid…
Peter Sauber: This agreement means that the future of the team and the location in Hinwil are secured. I am very relieved about that development. It would have been a crying shame had one of the best Formula One factories closed down. Regarding the slot on the grid I am very confident that we will be given a final confirmation very shortly.

Q: Do you expect the confirmation to come during next month’s FIA meeting in Monaco?
PS: I am pretty confident that there will be a decision before that date.

Q: Did you feel obligated to keep the team alive?
PS: I was strongly focused on that topic before I made the decision to acquire the team. Now the responsibility rests solely on my shoulders, but be sure that I will do everything in my power to secure a positive future for the team.

Q: How have you got the finances in place? Will Qadbak, the investment group that had planned the original deal with BMW, get involved now? Or do you envisage something similar to what happened between Honda and Brawn last year?
PS: I have obtained the financial resources for the acquisition by myself. No other backers are involved.

Q: There was always an air of mystery surrounding Qadbak, with some suggesting the name was a composition of the initials of Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. Can you shed a bit more light on it now?
PS: I have not made any comments on Qadbak in the last two months and I want to keep it that way.

Q: You faced a difficult task to reduce the number of staff by around 130 to reach the agreed headcount of 250. The Hinwil workforce was a perfectly functioning unit. How have you tried to avoid slumps in quality?
PS: That was indeed a very painful procedure. In my 40-year career as an entrepreneur I have never before had to lay off staff on financial grounds. All departments were equally affected by the cutbacks and there is a hope that no quality issues will arise. Regarding performance, we will try to compensate for the lower headcount through efficiency.

Q: You could benefit from Toyota’s withdrawal. Without it, would you have to have waited for one of the new entrants to falter?
PS: The FIA had already promised us the 14th slot on the grid. Under that circumstance it would have been our obligation to persuade the one team that had voted against us to accept our entry.

Q: From your position as a minority stakeholder you have been propelled back into the team principal’s role…
PS: It was truly never my desire to return to the pit wall. But once I decide for myself to get involved with something, then I am fully committed and do it with all my passion.

Q: It seems as though the development of the 2010 car has not been affected by BMW’s withdrawal. What is the state of affairs?
PS: Our 2010 car is perfectly on schedule. The development and fabrication have been unaffected by the situation. Having been able to proceed with uninterrupted development was also possible thanks to excellent cooperation with Ferrari, who submitted all the relevant data very early. Regarding the performance of the C29 we are all very confident. Two months before the first tests, we have already reached a very good basis for further development.

Q: So after four years of racing a BMW engine, you’re back using a Ferrari engine…
PS: That was one of the fixtures very early on. Shortly after BMW announced its withdrawal at the end of July I talked to (Ferrari chairman) Luca di Montezemolo and in a very short time – and without any bureaucracy – we received an okay. We will use a Ferrari engine and drive train.

Q: How about the driver line-up? Is the market for good drivers already swept clean?
PS: No, definitely not. And we have two very attractive cockpits to offer.

Q: How is your schedule looking for the coming weeks?
PS: On my personal list there are two priorities – the slot on the grid and the Concorde Agreement. Then I will look for drivers. My guess is that a lot of time will be consumed by the restructuring from 380 employees to 250.